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TOPIC: Salary survey shows region, hospital-size play big role in take-home pay

HIM Connection, August 16, 2003

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The size of your hospital can make a big difference in your salary, job requirements, and credentials and experience, according to MRB's 2003 salary survey. Although more than 60% of HIM directors at hospitals with more than 300 beds earn in excess of $70,000, only 33% of HIM directors at medium-sized hospitals (150-300 beds), and 11% of HIM directors at small hospitals (fewer than 150 beds) earn that much.

That doesn't surprise Angela Picard, program director of the health information management programs at St. Petersburg (FL) Junior College. "Usually the larger facilities have a lot more complexities," she says. "For instance, they may be research facilities, they may have trauma centers or more high level medical care, or they may also have medical interns and other things that make record management more complicated."

Larger hospitals are more likely to employ HIM directors with more education and credentials. For example, all three size categories had a similar percentage of HIM directors with a bachelor's degree, but the numbers vary significantly when it comes to master's degrees. At large hospitals, 22% of HIM directors have a master's degree, compared to16% and 9% at medium and small hospitals, respectively. Nearly three-quarters of HIM directors at large hospitals have their RHIA credential, compared with 64% at medium hospitals, and 50% at small hospitals.

Picard believes larger facilities are more likely to employ an HIM director with a master's degree "because of the business component of health care. It's always been a business but more so than ever-especially reimbursement issues with the HIPAA regulations."

An RHIA might be more valuable to a larger facility than an RHIT, says Picard, because the credential involves more training in the management that comes into play with the complexities of larger hospitals. "That doesn't mean the RHIT doesn't have that skill set, but I could see where [a large hospital] would be looking for the higher credential."

Max Mitchell, MA, executive vice president and chief financial officer of placement firm Stern & Associates, based in Tampa, says salaries tend to be higher in regions of the country where people move around more frequently.

"People on the West Coast tend to be more mobile," he says. "They don't think really hard about moving compared with someone from Pennsylvania or Ohio. A large percentage of people living in California are not natives so they don't have a large family commitment holding them there. They don't have to think about it as seriously if a better offer comes along."

That plus the high cost of living may explain why our survey showed that more people in the Pacific than in any other region earn more than $70,000. "We just placed someone at $103,000 and have many others making more than $100,000," Mitchell says. "Directors out there at any facility of any size are going to command at least $90,000-$95,000."

"There are definitely people out there making between $125,000 and $150,000, and a fairly large number making between $100,000 and $125,000, mostly in California, Mitchell says. He has found that benefits such as full relocation costs, temporary housing, and sign-on bonuses of up to $10,000 are common.

This week's HIM Connection was adapted from an article in Medical Records Briefing. Go to http://www.hcmarketplace.com/Prod.cfm?id=140&s=EHIMC for more information or to order.

Sincerely,

Lauren McLeod
Executive Editor
lmcleod@hcpro.com

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